Komatiites and nickel sulfide ores of the Black Swan area, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia. 2: Geology and genesis of the orebodies

Abstract

The Black Swan Ultramafic Succession hosts a number of magmatic Fe–Ni–Cu–PGE sulfide ore shoots, ranging from high grade massive ore to low grade disseminated sulfides. Of these, the most economically significant is the Silver Swan massive sulfide orebody, associated with the basal contact of the succession. The deposit varies in thickness between 5 and 20 m, reaches a N–S strike length of 75 m, extends for at least 1.2 km of vertical plunge and is open at depth. Overlying matrix (net-textured) ore is rare. Inclusions of dacite are abundant within the lower 5 m of the massive sulfide. They range from angular fragments through smooth sinuous and plumose morphologies to fine lace-like intergrowths with the sulfide matrix, and comprise variable proportions of cores of porphyritic dacite and carapaces with skeletal plagioclase phenocrysts. Dynamic crystallisation and kinetic melting textures in the carapaces indicate that the inclusions have been heated to various temperatures, some well above their liquidus temperature. The composition of the inclusions ranges from a perfect match with the immediate footwall dacites to mixtures of dacite with up to 30% komatiite. The consistent thickness of the inclusion-bearing basal layer within the massive sulphide is interpreted as the extent of 3-D physical connectivity between the inclusions and a partially molten underlying hybrid layer. Primary contacts between the Silver Swan massive sulfide orebody and overlying ultramafic rocks are marked by thin rinds containing coarse-grained chevron-textured chromites with skeletal textures. Compositions of these chromites match those from Kambalda, Perseverance and other localities, and are inconsistent with a metamorphic origin. They are interpreted as markers of primary magmatic contacts. The combination of this feature with the general paucity of matrix ore implies that the massive ore accumulated and solidified before the accumulation of the overlying thick sequence of olivine cumulates. Taken together with observations on the internal fractionation of platinum group elements within the massive ores, these observations are consistent with a model where the massive ore were emplaced at the floor of a small partially drained lava tube. The floor of the tube had been previously heated by passage of large volumes of lava, such that it had reached its melting range. The felsic inclusions within the ore are the result of buoyant ascent of partially molten substrate into the ore magma. This constitutes strong evidence for the operation of thermo-mechanical erosion during ore emplacement. The disseminated Cygnet and Black Swan orebodies show a number of distinctive features. Cygnet contains a assemblage of clasts and inclusions which are interpreted as the result of rip-up, transport and redeposition of sulfides from a pre-existing massive sulfide orebody, of which Black Duck may be a remnant. The Black Swan orebody, by contrast, does not show xenolithic features, but is characterised by an association of sulfide blebs with segregation vesicles, and by unusually coarse-grained olivine. The Black Swan orebody is interpreted as the result of transport of sulfide droplets within a lava charged with a suspended load of coarse olivine crystals.